NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya
is looking to break the world record on his fourth appearance at
the Berlin Marathon on Sept. 16.

“I want to enjoy my
race and I am not under any pressure. When I prepare for a race,
I always aim at working hard to make it count. I want my fourth
Berlin Marathon to be one to remember,” Kipchoge, 33, said on
Thursday in Eldoret.

Kipchoge seeks to
join the elite list of Kenyan star athletes who broke the world
record on the Berlin course.

“I am confident I
can beat my personal best on this fast course if conditions are
good,” said Kipchoge.

The London marathon
champion has a personal best time of 2:03:05 which he attained
in London in 2016. It is just eight seconds shy of Kimetto’s
mark.

Though Kipchoge ran
2:00.25 in Monza, Italy under special conditions, which was not
recognized as a world lead, he has the great potential to run
under two hours and three minutes.

“Anything is
possible so long as you believe,” he said. “I finished the week
on a high after rigorous training and I look forward to be at my
best form heading to Berlin.”

But Kipchoge will
not be running entirely against the clock. he will have to face
the only man to have beaten him in the marathon distance since
his debut in 2012, Wilson Kipsang, the current New York marathon
silver medalist. There is also Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadese.

Kipsang, a former
world record holder now 36, set his world record time of 2:03:23
in Berlin in 2013 when Kipchoge finished second, the Kenyan’s
only loss in a marathon to date.

Three years later,
also in Berlin, Kipsang set a personal best of 2:03:13 which
left him runner-up behind Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, whose time
of 2:03:03 was only six seconds outside Kimetto’s world record.
Last year in windy and rainy condition, Kipchoge prevailed to
win in 2:03:32 while Kipsang dropped out.